Podcasts · The Growth-Minded CFO

How to Run Finance in a Creative, 'Hit-Driven' Business, with Diya Sagar

· 36 min · S3 E5

Episode How to Run Finance in a Creative, 'Hit-Driven' Business, with Diya Sagar

0:00 36:12

In creative businesses, the art drives the upside — but the numbers determine whether the art can exist at all.

In this episode of The Growth-Minded CFO, hosts Alex Louisy and Lauren Pearl sit down with Diya Sagar, CFO of AWA Studios, a young media company that publishes original graphic novels and brings them to life in film and television.

Diya leads finance in this truly hit-driven business. There’s no recurring revenue, outcomes are unpredictable, and every project is a bet. She shares how she brings financial certainty to an inherently uncertain environment - without slowing creativity.

Chapters:

• 01:55 Diya's Career Journey and Role at AWA Studios • 03:40 Transitioning from Large Corporations to a Small Creative Company • 05:02 Managing Multiple Roles in a Small Organization • 07:41 Navigating the Unpredictable Nature of Creative Businesses • 08:53 Evaluating and Investing in Creative Projects • 15:30 Competing with Industry Giants • 17:10 Balancing Creativity and Financial Stability • 18:34 Providing Certainty in Creative Businesses • 20:26 Building Trust with Creative Teams • 21:17 Effective Communication with Creatives • 22:44 Transitioning Her Career gto a Creative Environment • 27:49 Challenges of Establishing a Finance Function

In this episode, you'll learn:

• What it means to run finance in a creative, hit-driven business • How CFOs can create certainty in an uncertain environment • Managing volatility without killing creativity • Why guardrails matter more than control • How to think in portfolios when every project is a bet • What financial excellence looks like in an early-stage studio

This conversation is essential listening for CFOs, finance leaders, and operators working outside traditional recurring-revenue models - or anyone navigating creative, nonlinear businesses.

Prefer to watch? Check out the full video of the interview on YouTube: https://youtu.be/MfFEkYmPMQY?si=cXsfD_dOLfn3L73X

👉 SUBSCRIBE for more real-talk with modern finance leaders

👉 SHARE this episode with a CFO or operator who’ll find it valuable.

The Growth-Minded CFO podcast challenges the status quo and explores how the best CFOs approach their work and lives. Hosts Lauren Pearl (Fractional CFO, 3-time Founder, and Startup Finance Instructor at NYU) and Alex Louisy (Fintech CEO and Y Combinator graduate) talk with inspiring finance and business leaders about what it takes to support high-performing organizations.

This podcast is powered by Upflow - a Financial Relationship Management platform enabling faster payments, stronger customer relationships, and efficient growth for your business.

Join thousands of next-level finance leaders and go from chasing invoices to engaging customers. Find out more at upflow.io.

Want to get in touch? Reach out to our producer at joseph.sweeney@upflow.io

Want to recommend a guest or apply yourself? Fill out our form: https://insights.upflow.io/apply-to-be-a-guest-on-the-growth-minded-cfo-podcast

Links in the notes 12

The episode on the publisher’s site

Shows are listed from Apple Podcasts' charts and directory, and Podcast Index where it is used. Every show and episode belongs to its publisher and plays from the publisher's own feed; this site hosts none of them. Explicit shows are for adult profiles only, and children’s profiles hear only children’s shows. More about this list.